Different
by Alexandria Kennedy
Summary: Alexis always wanted to be different; to stick out in the crowd. When she moved to Canada, she did not expect to meet someone exactly like her. Now, as she and Imogen grow closer, Alexis must try harder to hide her secrets, secrets that could cost lives.


**Author's Note: I do not own Degrassi…But I WISH I did. Life would be amazing if that was true. This is my first time on Fanfiction, so I am really familiar with the whole "writing fanfiction" thing…If the story is horrible, please tell me! Also, the first "Drew" character is not the Drew from Degrassi.**

"_You're insane!" Drew stated as we ran, hand in hand, through the dark night. I had dropped our only flashlight a couple of yards back, and I was too careless to take my cell phone with me. "Can you please tell me where we are going?" he asked, digging his heels into the gravel. As I skidded to a stop, I let go of Drew's hand and fell to my knees, my lungs longing for the cool air that surrounded the two of us. Panting, I stood up and faced Drew, a goofy smirk planted on my face._

"_We're almost there; it is just over that hill," I told him, darting off again. He chased after me, and just as he caught up to me and grabbed my hand, I tripped over my shoelaces and tumbled down the hill, pulling Drew down with me. As the two of us somersaulted down the hill, I heard him laugh for the first time that night. "Are you finally having fun?" I shouted just as I hit my knee against a rock. "Damn it!" I yelped. When we finally reached the bottom of the hill, he inspected my knee._

_He tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped the fabric around my bare knee; I knew I shouldn't have worn shorts. "It isn't bad. It's just bleeding a little. Now…why did we come all the way over here?" I smiled again and led him over to a rail that was connected to train tracks. "No…We are not going on the tracks…It's too dangerous!" he warned me. I folded my arms over my chest and gave him a challenging look for a long while before he sighed. "Fine, but if there is a train, we are jumping off as soon as we know it's coming."_

_I jumped onto the tracks and stood in the middle, waiting for Drew to come along. It was not long before I heard him grunt and walk over next to me. We stood there, having nothing but the stars and moon to light the tracks, and just stared at each other. He was my best friend, but more like my big brother; I loved him, though not in the way that I wanted to be in a relationship with him. Thoughts had begun to swarm around in my mind, though eventually they vanished and my mind went blank._

_I felt the tracks begin to tremble softly, the small rocks jumping at least one centimeter into the air. After a few seconds, the tracks shook more violently, and the rocks bounced onto my feet. The sound of a whistle rang through my ears as a light shone in the distance. I heard Drew say something, but I just stood there. Unsure of whether or not I was in some sort of a trance, or if I really just wanted to see what would happen, I stood there as the train flew towards us. The light got closer, and soon enough it was blinding me. I let out a scream, though it was lost to the sound of the train's wheels turning on the tracks. Something slammed into my side, and I was forced to the ground. My head was spinning as the breeze from the passing train froze my body. Two hands gripped my shoulders and shook them tightly, and once my focus on the world went back to normal, I could see Drew yelling at me. My ears unblocked themselves and his sweet voice filled them, comforting me as he embraced me._

"_What were you thinking?" he questioned. His tall form shook as he held me close to him. "Why wouldn't you move? You're crazy, Lexi, did you know that?" He brushed some hair from my face and I nodded, agreeing that I was not totally alright in the head, but to him it just meant that I was agreeing to my being different. "I love that you are not like everyone else."_

If only you knew how wrong you were_, I thought._

That was the last good memory that I had; the rest were all a blur to me.

My eyes opened groggily as I literally rolled out of bed, landing on my hands and knees on the cold, wooden floor of my room. With three long strides, I was standing before my mirror, looking at a girl that was not truly me. Boxer-shorts barely clung to my small waist, my hair was up in a messy bun (I won't even get started on my terrible bed-head), there was faded purple under my eyes, and the tank-top that covered my torso was too big for me. Goosebumps covered my skin as I stood there, in a room with no heater, in revealing clothes—in the middle of winter. Outside my window, a thin layer of snow covered the ground and the leafless branches of trees.

Yawning, I walked over to my dresser and pulled out torn leggings, a pink skirt, a light blue tank-top, and a thin jacket. I would be the one to wear something like that in winter. Opening my closet, I pulled out a pair of shoes and began to contemplate whether or not I should brush my teeth before or after I got dressed. After a few indecisive moments, I dragged myself across the hall to the bathroom and began to brush my teeth.

I always had to be different; I always had to stand out. For most of my life, I believed that if I was just like everyone else, I would lose myself and forget that I was actually a person. I did not want to be the one that followed trends set up by the "popular crowd" like all of the others in my school did. Unfortunately, I was like everyone else no matter what I did; so I put on a disguise, made up a role for myself, and convinced myself that life was a movie, and I was just another actress auditioning for a role.

When I finished getting ready, I tip-toed down the stairs and silently walked into the kitchen. My parents, along with my younger brother, were all asleep, or I believed them to be. It always took me a while to make and eat breakfast, and having to take a bus to school did not help me with my situation. I pulled a carton of eggs out of my refrigerator and prepared myself for the tough task of cooking. Hopefully I would not accidently set the eggs on fire…again.

I walked into the new school; I did not see any familiar faces. It had been my first day at Degrassi, and I spent hours telling myself that I would hate it. No one there would be like Drew; they would not take the time to get to know me and accept me for who I am. The only similarity between Drew and everyone else is that neither is able to see that there are secrets behind these brown eyes, ones that could cause the downfall of my life. No one—not even Drew—would be able to see that I am just like everyone else. And no one would be like me.

Sighing, I walked into the Main Office of the building, and stood at the desk as I awaited the services of a secretary. A lady walked up to me; she looked miserable and smelled like ham. "Uh, um…I need my schedule…I'm new," I managed to say. My hair was in a bun, and I probably looked like the weirdest person in the school. If only I could have convinced myself that I did not care at all about what others thought of me.

"Name," she mumbled. I told her my name, watched her type something into the computer, and then gratefully took the schedule from her hand. "I'll get someone to give you a tour," she said grumpily. Before she could do or say something else, a girl scrambled into the Main Office. Her hair was in a bun with a pencil stuck through it, she had on a black tutu-like skirt with black boots, leggings, and a long-sleeve shirt, and she was panted as if she had run a mile.

"Sorry, I need a tardy pass…" she admitted. The lady behind the front desk took out a small slip of paper, signed her name at the bottom, and handed it to the girl.

"You can get out of detention for being late _if_ you give this girl a quick tour of the school," the lady told the girl. She nodded gratefully and started out of the office, looking back once to make sure I was following. I hurried after her, speed-walking to keep up with her pace.

"I'm Imogen Moreno. You probably won't want to talk to me…Most of the people here treat me like crap; you wouldn't understand," she said. I was unsure as to why she would randomly be blurting this out to me, and I remained silent so that she would not give me pity when I told her that I knew _exactly_ what it was like. "What's your name? Oh, and let me see your schedule."

"Alexis Mason," I told her. I handed over my schedule and heard her gasp slightly. "What's wrong?"

"We have almost all the same classes. We have our first class together, which is the one we should be going to. Come on!" she exclaimed as she took my hand and skipped down the hallway, dragging me along with her. Eventually I gave in and allowed myself to skip by her side, a smile planted on my face as we walked into the classroom. "The lady at the Main Office told me to give her a tour since she's new," Imogen told the teacher.

The teacher grunted and stared at the two of us. "You can sit wherever," he said. I nodded, and looked at the vacant seats.

"There's an empty seat next to my desk. If you want, you can sit there," Imogen whispered softly as she walked to her desk. I nodded slightly and followed her, silently thanking her for the offer. The teacher rose from his desk and stared at each and every one of us.

"Today, we are going to talk about a project that will be due in two weeks. You are all going to be working with a partner," the teacher said, rolling his eyes as people began talking about who their partner would be, "that _I _have already assigned to you." Groans came from the classroom as the look of excitement on everyone's faces turned to disappointment. The teacher picked up a sheet of paper and began reading from it aloud. "Timothy Carlson, you are with Alyssa Hampton," he read. I was able to drown out his voice until I heard my name. "Alexis Mason and Imogen Moreno," he said, glaring at the two of us for no apparent reason.

Imogen clasped her hands together and smiled at me. "I guess that means we'll be hanging out together," she said. After a moment, she shrunk into her seat a little. "I could do all the work if you don't want to be seen with me outside of school," she suggested.

"No, it's fine. I'd like to hang out with you. You seem…Interesting," I replied. The word I really wanted to say was different. She seemed different…like me. Though she was more like me than just being different; she was acting, like me. She was breaking free from the world, trying to prove to everyone that she would not fall victim to a world that pressured everyone to be the same.

I pulled out a notebook from my backpack, along with a pen, and scribbled an address onto it. Smiling, I handed the paper to Imogen. "What is this?" she questioned.

"Meet me there tonight," I told her. "I want to show you something that only one other person has seen…Or, at least, I would like to pretend."

I was different; I spent a half hour the night before Googling train tracks near my new house, and now I was going to bring someone along with me to yet another near-death experience.

I would break free from this world, but I knew that I needed this girl to help me.


End file.
